On Facebook, Ott, who studied fashion design at the University of Cincinnati, said he always wanted to be a designer.

“My mom recalls me saying at age 3 that I wanted to be Ralph Lauren. I used to go shopping all the time with my mom, and I was obsessed with fashion television, videos, and Fashion File when I was in elementary school,” Ott wrote.

Liz Ricketts, 27, a college pal, said she and Ott spoke the morning before he vanished.

“He was in a good place last time we talked Saturday morning,” Ricketts said. “It’s strange for him to not reach out when he is struggling with something. Its not like him.”

Ott was with Ricketts and Branson Skinner, 25, in Washington, DC, until last Wednesday working with students there making clothing for the city’s homeless.

“He’s good at reaching out to people, he’s on the phone constantly he has a million friends,” Skiinner said.